


One For the Good Guys

by unwritten_muse



Category: Nikita (TV 2010)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-21
Updated: 2012-09-21
Packaged: 2017-11-14 17:57:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/517978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unwritten_muse/pseuds/unwritten_muse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Another day, another attempt to throw a wrench in Division business.</p>
            </blockquote>





	One For the Good Guys

**Author's Note:**

> All the technology in this is complete and total BS; no offense intended. Set sometime early in season 2.

Warner Plaza was like any other nondescript downtown office building, a grey and lifeless creation of steel and glass. Ostensibly the home to a political think tank, the south-west corner of the top three floors actually housed a secret bioweapons research facility, something Percy'd his eye on for some time, and, if Nikita's intel and subsequent recon were accurate, a recent site of interest for Gogol as well.

"Pick your poison," Michael sighed. "Can you imagine what either of them would do with some kind of super killer virus or bacteria? And at that location, we can't risk taking them down. Too many civilians."

"No, but we can set them back a few years, force them to start as close to square one as possible. From what we know there's no finished product yet, only research."

"So we neutralize any samples, destroy their files."

"Yes."

"Hang on, rebel troopers, not gonna be that easy.

"It never is."

"Yeah, well, while you two were gathering your so-called 'intelligence' I was doing a little research of my own. The good news: there are three distinct off-site backups of their computer files, the locations of which I've already traced and should be easy to hack into and wipe. Semi-good news: the file transfer is made via laptop, which is kept on site until needed; should be easy to destroy but we need to find it first."

"Wait, they do file transfer with a laptop?"

"Yes, which brings me to the bad news. Their entire network is self-contained and clearly built with old tech; I've already tried to take a look around and can't."

Nikita's eyes widened. "You're admitting something's got the best of you?"

"I'm saying no one could hack into that system unless they were already inside. I'm saying their desktops are probably more sophisticated than their servers, and are only connected through an ancient intranet that nobody in their right mind uses anymore."

"So limited connectivity between custom-built machines-"

"And no way to write a fool-proof program to take it all down until you're actually on one of the units and can adapt the virus to the system. It would take someone with my kind of skills - so, basically, only me - to embed a massive kill file, we're talking end game scenario here, and create a kind of domino effect to send it throughout the entire system."

"Can you write the base program here?" Nikita asked.

"Yes, but-"

"Then you can talk me through the rest when I'm in there."

"No, Niki, I can't. I'd have to see it, review the code, figure out the best place to drop the proverbial bomb."

Nikita walked away from the desk, frustration coming off of her in waves. She hated having Birkhoff in the field, but this time it didn't look like they had any choice.

"Wait, this can still work," Michael said, trying to salvage the plan before Nikita threw it away. " They seem to be over-reliant on sleight of hand: most people don't even know they're there, and those who do don't know how to find the access points. That's our ace in the hole."

"Their biggest defense is their biggest weakness," Nikita mused. "We've already cracked their strongest security measure; now it's just a matter of not stepping on any wires."

"Exactly. Birkhoff, to eliminate the backup files, I assume you can write the code ahead of time? It would only have to be uploaded to the three off-site locations?"

"Yeah."

"Alright, then. I'll be support outside, keep an eye on the security cameras, get the two of you through the door. Then when Birkhoff's ready with the kill file, I'll wipe the back-ups and then get you out."

"We're going to need your best work, Nerd."

Birkhoff looked from one to the other. "As if my part in this is the weakness in the plan," he scoffed.

 

Getting past reception was a breeze, only surpassed by the ease with which they got into the suite. The lack of people in the hall, the easily cracked entrance codes at the door, the nonexistent security measures inside ... everything screamed "too easy" and Nikita was tempted to pull out. But if this was a trap, they'd already walked into it and the idea of Percy getting his hands on an unending supply of biological agents was beyond unthinkable.

"Michael, at the first sign of trouble we're going to head toward the south exit."

Nikita spoke quietly but clearly, but there was no response. Birkhoff looked at her, slight concern on his face.

"Hey, Mikey, you copy that?" he asked, but still there was silence.

"They must be something here that's blocking communication," Nikita said, moving further into the room.

"We won't be able to give him the signal to get rid of the backup files."

"No, but if we can get out of here quickly there won't be that big of a delay. Get started. If anything strikes you as out of the ordinary or a cause of concern, shut it down fast; don't try and outmaneuver anyone. This feels wrong."

"Maybe we should just say sayonara right now."

"No."

"Niki-"

"Move, Birkhoff!"

Birkhoff closed his eyes and blew out a long, annoyed breath. There was no way he would win this argument, so he moved through the first set of offices until he found a desktop close to the middle of the suite while Nikita began searching for the laptop and destroying or contaminating anything that looked even mildly important as she went.

It took less than a minute to hack into the intranet and about five to determine what baseline code should be added to his program in order to delete the computer files and erase the hard drives of every machine in this place. The kill file complete, Birkhoff started to upload it to the system.

Nikita had just made her way to the second floor, the laptop the facility used for transferring backups already safely secured, when she heard a mechanical whirr and a solid thunk from somewhere downstairs. She swore under her breath, pulling out her gun as she hurried back to the stairs.

"Michael, if for some reason you can hear this, we need backup," she murmured, taking the last few steps in one jump. She started jogging toward where she thought Birkhoff had set up shop and nearly ran into him as he suddenly appeared around the corner.

"I think they just bolted the front door," he whispered.

She shoved him down the hall to the left, sidling behind him to keep an eye both in front and behind. "It sounded like the kinds of locks used in prisons."

"So they're going to be waiting for us outside the back door."

"Or they've started the procedure to bolt it remotely as well. Keep us locked in."

She could hear Birkhoff's panicked breathing, but as long as he held it together there wasn't a need to try and calm him down. Besides, he was often more alert when things were at their most tense, and he wasn't one to panic needlessly. It'd been a surprise to learn how much steel he had in his backbone, but equally nice to know she'd underestimated him for years.

When they reached the back door, the security pad beside it seemed to be running through a pre-programmed sequence. She smashed it with the butt of her gun twice, breaking the circuits, then shot out the lock and kicked the door open. So far the back stairs were clear but she was sure that wouldn't last for long.

"Go up to the roof," she ordered, shoving the laptop in Birkhoff's hands and steering him up the stairs. "Michael?"

"I'm on my way. You have two teams coming from the front, two from the back."

Before Nikita could respond, the distinctive sound of heavy boots on steel could be heard below them, closing fast. A moment later a door slammed open above them and people could be heard coming down in a rush. The roof was out.

She stopped on the next landing and managed to kick the fire exit door open. When Birkhoff began to run through she stopped him.

"No. Wait." She yanked the laptop out of his hand and threw it to the ground, emptying her clip into it. As she'd hoped, the pursuit stopped and just when a hail of bullets sounded in response, they ran out into the hall, Nikita reloading as they went.

"Nikita?" Michael's concerned voice rang through her ear piece.

"We're fine," she replied, her voice clipped and even.

"How do you think they knew we were coming?" Birkhoff asked, his breath now coming in controlled bursts.

"I'm not sure they would have let us have so much time inside if they did."

"Maybe it was all a decoy. Maybe there's nothing important there."

"If it was all a ruse it was an awfully elaborate one."

They rounded the corner and found themselves in the elevator banks just as one of the doors began to slide shut. Birkhoff lunged at it, and thankfully it was empty. Nikita kept the door open but stayed outside.

"Did you manage to upload the program?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Take this up two floors then get off and head for the other set of elevators and leave; find the car, make sure Michael's wiped the backups."

"I don't think we should split up."

"That's why you're not the brains of this outfit." She smiled as the door closed, then continued down the hall, trying doors as she went, opening any that she could. The carpet muffled her steps, and very likely the sounds of whoever was pursuing her, so she moved quickly and efficiently around the perimeter of the floor until she was on the opposite side of the building from where she entered. As she opened the stairwell door, Nikita thought she could hear the rustle of uniforms and metal closing in on her location. She started up the stairs when a clank against the railing drew her eyes down and Michael trotted onto the landing just below.

"They're right behind -" she started to warn, when the door opened between them and two guards began to push through. With no hesitation, Nikita grabbed the gun arm of the one in front and pulled him further into the stairwell while Michael slammed the door on the second guard's hand, trapping and, for the moment, immobilizing him, blocking the way. Nikita spun and flipped her pursuer, breaking his arm in one fluid motion causing his gun to clatter to the ground. She kicked her foot into his temple, knocking him out, as Michael snagged the man's weapon, using the stock to jam the door closed.

Three flights down they found the stairwell door open and they slipped back into the hall. They'd only gone a few steps when the fire alarm suddenly started to blare.

"Birkhoff?" Michael wondered.

"Or they hope to ID us as the building empties."

"Either way." Michael shrugged, his mouth quirking into a subtle smile.

Unobtrusively, they holstered their guns then entered one of the offices as people were leaving. It took only a second to find a set of keys in a desk drawer, then they moved back into the hall, joining the rest of the building occupants as they began to evacuate through the fire exits. There was a slight panic in the air, no doubt caused from people up above discovering the guard and the gun in the door upstairs, but so far it only manifested itself in people coming down a little faster than they should. As they neared the first floor, Nikita "stumbled" and let the keys fall down the shaft to the basement.

"Damnit!" she exclaimed, stopping. "I dropped my keys. If I lose those I might as well not go back upstairs. My boss will kill me."

"It's only another flight down," someone offered helpfully.

"Yeah?" Nikita turned toward the person, looking desperately hopeful.

"I'll help you look for them," Michael said, and the two of them headed down the stairs to the lower level. Nikita took out her gun while Michael slipped out the card he'd put over the locking mechanism when he came in in order to keep the door unlocked but closed, and they exited into one of the maintenance rooms. Amazingly, luck was on their side for once and there was no one down here yet. They crossed through the boiler and storage rooms unhindered, carefully opened the garage door but found no one there, then jogged up to the entrance and around the side of the building to where Michael had been parked and where Birkhoff now sat in the driver's seat.

"It doesn't look like you were followed," he said, scanning the street behind them as Nikita and Michael got in the car.

"Not yet, at least," Nikita replied.

Birkhoff pulled away and started driving toward the highway. "So Mikey, it looks like you did a good job wiping the backups."

"You did it?" Nikita asked. "I was worried you just went into white charger mode when our comms went down and rushed in to my rescue." She smiled at the glare Michael shot her way.

"I was going to wait ten minutes, figured that was all the time hotshot here needed to upload his assassin program, but when I saw security details were being directed to that floor, I deleted and came in."

"Do you think we were set up?" Birkhoff asked.

"No." Michael and Nikita spoke at the same time. "I think," Nikita continued, "we must have accidentally tripped something while we were in there. If it was a trap, they would have activated those security doors almost as soon as we were inside."

"And it would have been Division agents and not building security coming to round you up," Michael added.

"So chalk one up for the good guys." Birkhoff sounded more upbeat than he looked.

Nikita held his eye in the rear view mirror for a long moment, then turned her attention outside, watching the normalcy that surrounded them. She took Michael's hand.

"Yeah, one for the good guys," she sighed.


End file.
